2015 Tippeligaen

The 2015 Tippeligaen was the 70th completed season of top-tier football in Norway. The competition began on 6 April 2015, one week later than in the previous season. A short summer-break in June was scheduled between the rounds played on 12 July and 26 July, and the decisive match was played on 8 November 2015.[1] Molde were the defending champions. Sandefjord, Tromsø and Mjøndalen joined as the promoted clubs from the 2014 1. divisjon. They replaced Brann, Sogndal and Sandnes Ulf who were relegated to the 2015 1. divisjon.

Tippeligaen

Season	2015
Dates	6 April 2015 – 8 November 2015
Champions	Rosenborg 23rd title
Relegated	Mjøndalen Sandefjord
Champions League	Rosenborg
Europa League	Strømsgodset Stabæk Odd
Matches played	240
Goals scored	774 (3.23 per match)
Top goalscorer	Alexander Søderlund (22 goals)
Biggest home win	Molde 6–1 Sandefjord (30 May 2015) Bodø/Glimt 6–1 Stabæk (8 November 2015)
Biggest away win	Haugesund 0–6 Rosenborg (12 April 2015) Tromsø 0–6 Strømsgodset (2 August 2015)
Highest scoring	Tromsø 4–5 Vålerenga (12 May 2015) Mjøndalen 3–6 Odd (2 August 2015)
Longest winning run	6 games Bodø/Glimt (9 August 2015)
Longest unbeaten run	11 games Strømsgodset (8 November 2015)
Longest winless run	15 games Sandefjord (2 August 2015)
Longest losing run	8 games Sandefjord (6 June 2015)
Highest attendance	21,401 Rosenborg 1–1 Molde (27 June 2015)
Lowest attendance	1,949 Mjøndalen 4–3 Tromsø (9 May 2015)
Average attendance	6,711 3.6%
← 2014 2016 →

Teams

The league was contested by 16 teams: the 13 best teams of the 2014 season; the two teams who won direct promotion from the 2014 1. divisjon, Sandefjord and Tromsø; and Mjøndalen, who won the promotion/relegation play-off finals against Brann.

Stadia and locations

Aalesund

Bodø/Glimt

Haugesund

Lillestrøm

Mjøndalen

Molde

Odd

Rosenborg

Sarpsborg 08

Sandefjord

Stabæk

Start

Strømsgodset

Tromsø

Viking

Vålerenga

Locations of the teams in 2015 Tippeligaen

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Ap.	Location	Arena	Turf	Capacity
Aalesund	14	Ålesund	Color Line Stadion	Artificial	10,778
Bodø/Glimt	21	Bodø	Aspmyra Stadion	Artificial	7,354
Haugesund	9	Haugesund	Haugesund Stadion	Natural	8,754
Lillestrøm	52	Lillestrøm	Åråsen Stadion	Natural	12,250
Molde	39	Molde	Aker Stadion	Artificial	11,800
Mjøndalen	19	Mjøndalen	Isachsen Stadion	Artificial	4,350
Odd	34	Skien	Skagerak Arena	Artificial	12,500
Rosenborg	52	Trondheim	Lerkendal Stadion	Natural	21,166
Sandefjord	5	Sandefjord	Komplett.no Arena	Natural	6,000
Sarpsborg 08	4	Sarpsborg	Sarpsborg Stadion	Artificial	4,700
Stabæk	19	Bærum	Nadderud Stadion	Natural	7,000
Start	39	Kristiansand	Sør Arena	Artificial	14,563
Strømsgodset	28	Drammen	Marienlyst Stadion	Artificial	8,935
Tromsø	28	Tromsø	Alfheim Stadion	Artificial	6,859
Vålerenga	55	Oslo	Ullevaal Stadion	Natural	28,000
Viking	66	Stavanger	Viking Stadion	Natural	16,600

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Sponsor
Aalesund	Trond Fredriksen (interim)	Umbro	Sparebanken Møre
Bodø/Glimt	Jan Halvor Halvorsen	Diadora	Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge
Haugesund	Jostein Grindhaug	Macron	Sparebanken Vest
Lillestrøm	Rúnar Kristinsson	Legea	DNB
Molde	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	Nike	Sparebanken Møre
Mjøndalen	Vegard Hansen	Umbro	Sparebanken Øst
Odd	Dag-Eilev Fagermo	New Balance	Skagerak Energi
Rosenborg	Kåre Ingebrigtsen	Adidas	SpareBank 1 SMN
Sandefjord	Lars Bohinen	Macron	Jotun
Sarpsborg 08	Geir Bakke	Select	Borregaard
Stabæk	Bob Bradley	Adidas	Sparebank 1 Oslo Akershus
Start	Bård Borgersen (interim)	Umbro	Sparebanken Sør
Strømsgodset	Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen	Diadora	DNB
Tromsø	Bård Flovik (interim)	Select	Sparebank 1 Nord-Norge
Vålerenga	Kjetil Rekdal	Adidas	DNB
Viking	Kjell Jonevret	Diadora	Lyse

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Aalesund	Jan Jönsson	Mutual agreement	30 November 2014[2]	Pre-season	Harald Aabrekk	1 January 2015[3]	Pre-season
Lillestrøm	Magnus Haglund	Mutual agreement	30 November 2014[4]	Pre-season	Rúnar Kristinsson	1 January 2015[5]	Pre-season
Sarpsborg 08	Brian Deane	Mutual agreement	30 November 2014[6]	Pre-season	Geir Bakke	1 January 2015[7]	Pre-season
Aalesund	Harald Aabrekk	Sacked	28 April 2015[8]	16th	Trond Fredriksen (interim)	28 April 2015	16th
Strømsgodset	David Nielsen	Mutual agreement	26 May 2015[9]	9th	Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen	26 May 2015[9]	9th
Molde	Tor Ole Skullerud	Sacked	6 August 2015[10]	7th	Erling Moe (interim)	7 August 2015[11]	7th
Molde	Erling Moe	Caretaker period ended	21 October 2015[12]	7th	Ole Gunnar Solskjær	21 October 2015[12]	7th
Tromsø	Steinar Nilsen	Sacked	18 August 2015[13]	15th	Bård Flovik (interim)	18 August 2015[14]	15th
Start	Mons Ivar Mjelde	Mutual agreement	7 September 2015[15]	13th	Bård Borgersen (interim)	7 September 2015[15]	13th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Rosenborg (C)	30	21	6	3	73	27	+46	69	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
2	Strømsgodset	30	17	6	7	67	44	+23	57	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round
3	Stabæk	30	17	5	8	54	43	+11	56	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round
4	Odd	30	15	10	5	61	41	+20	55
5	Viking	30	17	2	11	53	39	+14	53
6	Molde	30	15	7	8	62	31	+31	52
7	Vålerenga	30	14	7	9	49	41	+8	49
8	Lillestrøm[lower-alpha 2]	30	12	9	9	45	43	+2	44
9	Bodø/Glimt	30	12	4	14	53	56	−3	40
10	Aalesund	30	11	5	14	42	57	−15	38
11	Sarpsborg 08	30	8	10	12	37	49	−12	34
12	Haugesund	30	8	7	15	33	52	−19	31
13	Tromsø	30	7	8	15	36	50	−14	29
14	Start (O)	30	5	7	18	35	64	−29	22	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15	Mjøndalen (R)	30	4	9	17	38	69	−31	21	Relegation to 1. divisjon
16	Sandefjord (R)	30	4	4	22	36	68	−32	16

Source: nifs, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored (between two teams).[17]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Rosenborg qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round by winning the 2015 Norwegian Cup. However, since they already qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down the league.
2. Lillestrøm started the season with a one point deduction due to poor financial reporting.[16]

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Rosenborg	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Strømsgodset	14	11	12	10	12	13	9	11	9	9	8	8	7	7	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	5	3	3	3	2	2	2
Stabæk	7	12	9	5	5	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3
Odd	9	2	1	2	4	5	5	3	5	6	5	5	6	6	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Viking	12	9	10	12	9	7	7	7	4	4	6	6	4	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	5	5	5	5	5	5
Molde	8	7	4	4	2	4	3	5	6	5	4	4	5	5	4	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6
Vålerenga	3	3	3	3	3	3	6	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	2	3	3	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7
Lillestrøm	16	10	11	13	10	11	13	10	8	8	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	10	10	9	9	9	9	8	9	8	8	8	8
Bodø/Glimt	13	16	16	15	16	16	16	16	15	16	15	15	15	15	13	12	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	9	8	9	9	10	9
Aalesund	15	13	15	16	15	10	8	9	11	12	10	10	10	11	10	10	12	10	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	10	10	10	9	10
Sarpsborg 08	5	6	8	9	6	6	4	6	7	7	9	9	9	9	11	11	11	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11
Haugesund	6	14	14	14	13	9	12	13	13	11	13	13	13	13	14	13	13	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	10	11	11	12	12	12
Tromsø	11	15	13	11	14	15	15	15	16	15	14	14	14	14	15	14	14	14	14	15	15	15	14	15	14	14	13	13	13	13
Start	10	4	6	8	11	8	11	12	12	13	12	12	12	10	9	9	10	12	13	13	13	13	15	13	13	13	14	14	14	14
Mjøndalen	4	5	7	7	8	14	10	8	10	10	11	11	11	12	12	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	13	14	15	15	15	15	15	15
Sandefjord	2	8	5	6	7	12	14	14	14	14	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

	Leader
	2016–17 UEFA Europa League First qualifying round
	Relegation play-offs
	Relegation to 2016–17 1. divisjon

Source: nifs.no

Relegation play-offs

Main article: 2015 Eliteserien Promotion/Relegation play-offs

Final

The 14th-placed team, Start, took part in a two-legged play-off against Jerv, the winners of the 2015 1. divisjon promotion play-offs, to decide who would play in the 2016 Tippeligaen.

21 November 2015 (2015-11-21)

12:00 CET (UTC+1)

Jerv	1–1	Start
Omoijuanfo  86'	Report	Stokkelien  19'

Levermyr Stadion, Grimstad

Attendance: 2,010

Referee: Trygve Kjensli

25 November 2015 (2015-11-25)

19:00 CET (UTC+1)

Start	3–1	Jerv
Hollingen  42' Børufsen  49' DeJohn  83'	Report	Antwi  45'

Sør Arena, Kristiansand

Attendance: 12,245

Referee: Tom Harald Hagen

Start won 4–2 on aggregate and retained their place in the 2016 Tippeligaen; Jerv remained in the 1. divisjon.

Results

Home \ Away	AAL	BOD	HAU	LSK	MIF	MFK	ODD	RBK	SF	S08	STB	IKS	SIF	TIL	VIF	VIK
Aalesund	—	2–0	2–1	1–1	4–2	1–2	1–3	0–1	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–2	2–0	0–4
Bodø/Glimt	1–0	—	1–2	0–3	5–1	1–3	2–4	1–0	2–1	3–1	6–1	5–1	3–5	1–0	1–1	0–3
Haugesund	3–1	2–4	—	3–3	1–1	0–0	1–2	0–6	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–2	4–0	0–1	0–1	0–2
Lillestrøm	3–1	3–0	2–0	—	3–0	2–1	1–1	0–5	3–2	3–1	0–2	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	2–1
Mjøndalen	1–2	1–2	2–1	1–4	—	0–3	3–6	3–2	2–2	1–1	1–4	1–1	2–4	4–3	0–1	1–0
Molde	5–1	1–2	0–1	2–2	3–1	—	1–2	1–0	6–1	0–0	3–3	4–0	3–1	4–0	0–0	4–1
Odd	1–1	2–1	0–0	5–0	2–2	2–2	—	1–2	4–3	1–1	2–0	3–3	2–0	3–2	1–2	1–0
Rosenborg	5–0	1–1	4–3	3–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	—	5–1	3–2	1–0	3–2	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–0
Sandefjord	1–3	3–1	0–1	0–0	2–1	2–4	0–1	1–2	—	1–0	2–4	4–1	1–2	1–1	0–3	1–2
Sarpsborg 08	3–1	2–2	3–0	1–3	2–2	1–4	2–0	0–2	2–1	—	0–1	3–1	1–6	1–0	1–1	0–2
Stabæk	1–4	3–2	1–1	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–2	2–3	4–0	0–0	—	3–2	3–2	2–1	2–0	1–0
Start	3–1	1–1	1–3	0–0	1–1	0–3	0–4	0–4	2–1	1–2	4–1	—	0–1	3–1	2–3	0–3
Strømsgodset	3–1	3–1	5–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	0–2	2–1	—	2–1	2–2	4–1
Tromsø	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	2–1	0–6	—	4–5	3–1
Vålerenga	1–2	1–2	2–0	2–0	4–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	2–0	3–1	0–2	1–1	3–1	1–0	—	2–4
Viking	4–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–1	1–4	2–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	3–4	—

Source: Nifs.no
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers Rosenborgs's Alexander Søderlund became the top scorer in Tippeligaen after scoring 22 goals. Rank Player Club Goals Games Average 1 Alexander Søderlund Rosenborg 22 27 0,81 2 Adama Diomande Stabæk 17 21 0,81 3 Olivier Occéan Odd 15 27 0,56 4 Ola Kamara Molde 14 29 0,48 5 Pål André Helland Rosenborg 13 21 0,62 Alexander Sørloth Bodø/Glimt 13 26 0,50 Trond Olsen Bodø/Glimt 13 29 0,45 Leke James Aalesund 13 29 0,45 9 Mohamed Elyounoussi Molde 12 28 0,43 10 Marcus Pedersen Strømsgodset 11 10 1,10 Veton Berisha Viking 11 14 0,79 Fred Friday Lillestrøm 11 26 0,42 Iver Fossum Strømsgodset 11 30 0,37 Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Fred Friday Lillestrøm Mjøndalen 4–1 (A) 3 April 2015 Tommy Høiland Molde Start 4–0 (H) 10 May 2015 Adama Diomande Stabæk Sandefjord 4–0 (H) 13 May 2015 Mohamed Elyounoussi Molde Sandefjord 6–1 (H) 30 May 2015 Ola Kamara Molde Sarpsborg 08 4–1 (A) 3 July 2015 Christian Gytkjær Haugesund Lillestrøm 3–3 (H) 4 July 2015 Christian Gytkjær Haugesund Aalesund 3–1 (H) 9 August 2015 Alexander Sørloth^4 Bodø/Glimt Start 5–1 (H) 9 August 2015 Marcus Pedersen Strømsgodset Mjøndalen 4–2 (A) 30 August 2015 Alexander Sørloth Bodø/Glimt Stabæk 6–1 (H) 8 November 2015 Fredrik Nordkvelle Odd Lillestrøm 5–0 (H) 8 November 2015 Notes ^4 Player scored 4 goals (H) – Home team (A) – Away team Top assists Mike Jensen assisted 12 goals for Rosenborg over the season, more than any other player. Rank Player Club Assists 1 Mike Jensen Rosenborg 12 2 Ernest Asante Stabæk 11 Yassine El Ghanassy Stabæk 4 Christian Grindheim Vålerenga 10 5 Anders Trondsen Sarpsborg 08 9 6 Fredrik Midtsjø Rosenborg 8 Espen Ruud Odd Gustav Wikheim Strømsgodset 9 Daniel Bamberg Haugesund 7 Bentley Odd Per-Egil Flo Molde Pål André Helland Rosenborg Olivier Occéan Odd Joackim Olsen Solberg Mjøndalen Discipline Player Most yellow cards: 8[18] Michael Christensen (Start) Most red cards: 1[18] 25 players Club Most yellow cards: 52[19][20] Sandefjord Most red cards: 3[21] Lillestrøm Molde Attendances Pos Team Total High Low Average Change 1 Rosenborg 270,589 21,401 13,779 18,039 +29.6%^† 2 Viking 154,080 14,463 7,086 10,272 +2.6%^† 3 Vålerenga 151,486 20,958 6,908 10,099 +3.5%^† 4 Molde 134,275 11,113 8,141 8,952 −3.1%^† 5 Odd 118,674 9,073 6,769 7,912 +10.5%^† 6 Strømsgodset 105,450 8,468 6,180 7,030 +4.8%^† 7 Aalesund 100,435 8,287 5,655 6,696 −11.9%^† 8 Start 92,326 9,239 4,683 6,155 +3.2%^† 9 Lillestrøm 82,913 9,071 3,881 5,528 −6.3%^† 10 Haugesund 80,790 6,634 4,533 5,386 −3.5%^† 11 Sandefjord 61,882 6,174 3,269 4,125 +53.5%^1 12 Stabæk 58,204 4,938 3,293 3,880 +1.2%^† 13 Sarpsborg 08 58,060 5,137 3,151 3,871 −1.9%^† 14 Tromsø 54,534 5,862 3,080 3,636 +30.9%^1 15 Bodø/Glimt 47,762 6,114 2,286 3,184 −5.9%^† 16 Mjøndalen 39,131 4,150 1,949 2,609 +125.9%^1 League total 1,610,591 21,401 1,949 6,711 −3.6%^† Updated to games played on 26 October 2015 Source: nifs.no, fotball.no Notes: 1: Team played last season in 1. divisjon References "Hovedterminliste menn 2015" [Main schedule men's football 2015] (PDF). fotball.no. 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"NFF gir Lillestrøm poengtrekk". vg.no. Verdens Gang. Retrieved 4 January 2015. "Turneringsbestemmelser Tippeligaen 2015" (pdf) (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015. "Tippeligaen 2015 - Toppscorer, gule og røde kort". Football Association of Norway (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 May 2019. "Tippeligaen 2015 Yellow Cards". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 May 2019. "Tippeligaen 2015 Råeste lag". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 May 2019. "Tippeligaen 2015 Red Cards". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 May 2018.